TSA agents also found a book critical of George W. Bush’s foreign policy he was carrying to be worthy of greater scrutiny. (“Rogue Nation” was written by former Reagan Administration Commerce Secretary Clyde Prestowitz and widely read in the U.S.)
“One of them started rifling through the cards, and another took the book out of my carry-on,” he wrote on the website of the American Civil Liberties Union which helped George in his lawsuit. “The minutes ticked by, and I got more confused about why I was being detained and more concerned that I would miss my flight. One of them called a supervisor.”
The supervisor took a half-hour to arrive. When she asked, “Do you know who did 9/11?"
The supervisor then asked if George knew what language Osama Bin Laden spoke.
"Arabic," he replied.
"So do you see why these cards are suspicious?" she responded.
“Imagine going from being in line at the airport to having a TSA supervisor imply you had some connection with the worst act of terrorism ever committed against your country – all over the course of a few minutes,” George later wrote.
A Philadelphia police officer then showed up.
He was held handcuffed in a jail cell for several hours, long having missed his connecting flight. Police never informed him of his rights or gave him a specific charge.
George says he hopes the settlement this week will make these “arbitrary arrests” a thing of the past by requiring the Philadelphia police department to regularly train officers to find probable cause before making an arrest. In short, they can’t arrest someone for studying Arabic or reading a book.
“It should go without saying that this is perfectly innocuous, First Amendment-protected activity,” George said. “I hope the Philadelphia police have gotten the message.”
The city also settled for $25,000 in damages.
